{"nrhp_refnum":"06000936","name":"Montville Baptist Church","other_names":["Sons of Abraham Synagogue","Beth Abraham Congregation"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5 Hammertown Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sandisfield","county":"Berkshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.11866209400006,"lon":-73.11283692099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-10-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","European","Religion","Social History","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wood-frame Greek Revival meetinghouse at 5 Hammertown Road in Montville, Sandisfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, built in 1839 by local builders as a Baptist church. It later served as an Orthodox Jewish synagogue and is now a community arts center.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is Sandisfield's most distinctive public building in the Greek Revival style (Criterion C). It also reflects changing community life through its use as a Baptist church, a synagogue from 1921 and an arts center from 1996 (Criterion A). It is tied to the town's Jewish history and retains a high degree of integrity.","narrative":"Built in 1839 as a Baptist meetinghouse, this wood-frame building on Hammertown Road in Montville, Sandisfield, shows vernacular Greek Revival design. Its front has engaged pilasters under a triangular pediment, with a two-stage square belfry above. Tall 25-over-25 windows light the sanctuary, which keeps its original fixed pews. A granite foundation encloses a full lower level added in the early 1920s, when the building was converted to an Orthodox Jewish synagogue. The Jewish congregation, led for many years by Rabbi Max Cohen, added a women's gallery and a Torah ark, and it declined during the Depression and later decades. The synagogue closed in the late 1940s, and the building became an arts center in 1996. It was listed for its architecture and for its role in the religious, ethnic and social history of the town. Volunteers are currently repairing and repainting the structure.","period_of_significance":"1839-1956","architect_builder":"C. Barker & M. Crittenden (Otis, MA); L. Barker & J.P. Bentley (South Sandisfield, MA)","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century: Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Now used as a community arts center; rehabilitation by the Sandisfield Arts & Restoration Committee is under way, including roof and belfry repairs and interior plaster work.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.575386-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/78/7942/63794278/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/06000936.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000936/81db0e174b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000936/81db0e174b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sandisfield_Arts_Center_in_2024,_Montville_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sandisfield_Arts_Center_in_2024,_Montville_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794278","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montville_Baptist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6906651"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/berkshire-county/montville-baptist-church-06000936/"}